ACCS: Student Voice and Participation Conference in Dublin Castle on Tuesday 19th September 2023

Dear Colleague and Stakeholder,

ACCS, in partnership with the NCCA, is delighted to announce that we will be hosting a one-day Student Voice and Participation conference in Dublin Castle on Tuesday 19th September for Community and Comprehensive schools.

This conference represents the final event in our amazing journey which commenced in 2017. Our journey has included the launch of our Student Voice Journal, online webinars, breakout rooms and in-person events. We have established a rich and dynamic community of practice where we have shared our Student Voice stories and the successes and challenges of strategies, we have designed to promote Student Voice and meaningful participation in classrooms and spaces across our schools.

Overall, this Student Voice and Participation conference will provide students in ACCS schools with an opportunity to reflect on their educational experiences and put forward their ideas and hopes for the future of education. The aims of the conference are to 

·         Celebrate the journey of ACCS schools in building a culture of meaningful and authentic Student Voice and Participation

·         Demonstrate a student-led consultation event to groups and agencies engaged in similar work

·         Inform an ACCS Student Voice submission on the future of education to policy makers

·         Showcase a structure for similar student-led events in individual school communities.

Encouraging students to make judgements about what needs to be changed, how to go about changing it and taking action to do so is teaching students to live democratically.

(Kessel 2015)

Who can attend?

Schools are invited to complete the form at this link https://forms.office.com/e/6sk9QyueX5 to indicate their interest in this event. Places will be offered on a first come, first served basis. A waiting list will be established if necessary. Please complete and submit the form by 4pm on Tuesday 29th August. We are very conscious that the turnaround on this is very short and hope that schools can work with us on this timeframe. Our hope is that schools will consider a range of voices for this event, senior and junior school, newcomers, students with additional needs, seldom heard voices etc. 

Draft Conference Programme: 

·        10.00am: Welcome and Registration. Hot drinks and snacks will be available on arrival. There will be a serviced cloakroom available on the day for coats, jackets, bags etc. 

·        10.30am - 12.30pm: Morning workshops

·        12.30pm - 1.30pm: Lunch

·        1.30pm and 3.00pm: Afternoon workshops

·        3.30pm: Plenary session 

·        4.00pm: Finish 

We hope that these timings will facilitate travel to and from the conference by public transport where possible. Photographs and recordings will be taken throughout the day.

Student Voice and Participation conference - a Student Led Event:

An important aspect of Student Voice and Participation in Education conference is to empower students to organise and lead various events and initiatives. To this end, we are planning to involve students from ACCS schools in the organisation and facilitation of this event. Your school is invited to nominate two students to be part of this exciting development. 

What will be involved?

The planning meetings will happen online and interested students should be available to attend all of them. Their role as facilitators will include contributing to planning the conference, introducing the themes for the conference on the day, facilitating the students' discussion on the day, recording their feedback and contributing to the plenary session. Most importantly, they should be available to attend the Student Voice and Participation conference on Tuesday, 19th September.  

Nominated students should be willing to: 

  • ·         Participate in an initial one hour meet and greet online session on Friday, 1st September. 

  • ·         Attend a two-hour facilitation skills training session led by the National Youth Council of Ireland on the morning of Tuesday, 5th of September.

  • ·         Participate in three/four separate one-hour workshops to finalise the planning for the conference. (Dates and times to be agreed)

  • ·         Help ACCS and NCCA showcase a student-led conference on the Future of Education. 

N.B. Interested and nominated students must engage with each of these sessions so that they are comfortable and confident with the facilitation tasks on the day.

Please contact Áine at aosullivan@accs.ie / 086 6016583 if you have any queries regarding this email. 

Kind regards,

John Irwin, General Secretary, ACCS

John Irwin